Morocco Olympic boxer disqualified after attempting to bite opponent’s ear

Moroccan boxer Youness Baalla was disqualified from the Olympics yesterday after he attempted to bite his opponent’s ear.

The Boxing Task Force, which is in charge of running the Tokyo competition, told Reuters that 22-year-old Baalla was disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour after he “very clearly intended to bite the ear/face of his opponent in the third round of the bout”.

#Tokyo2020 Younes Baalla 🇲🇦 (-91 kg) disqualifié du tournoi olympique pour avoir essayé de mordre son adversaire à une oreille lors d'un combat de poids lourds.#Boxing #Maroc #JeuxOlympiques pic.twitter.com/OA7Z9DO4Ps

— الرياضية – عاجل (@Arryadia_Brk) July 27, 2021

Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Nyika won the first two rounds comfortably, leaving a frustrated Baalla to try and dig his teeth into his opponent’s ear during a hold in the final round.

Nyika, who won the fight 5-0, said this isn’t the first time he had almost been bitten.

“I have been bitten once on the chest before at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. But c’mon man, this is the Olympics,” he said.

“He [Balla] didn’t get a full mouthful. Luckily he had his mouthguard in and I was a bit sweaty,” Nyika said after the match.

“I don’t remember what I said to him but I gave him a little bit of a cheek,” he added.

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